- PEADN LINK S-3 Expose its GPU completely without case, without a fan, only air flow
- The exposed graphics cards make cold air flows easier, but leave components vulnerable to everything else
- Do not wait for global availability yet; It’s just shipping in China for now
Peadn has announced the S-3 link, a compact EGPU spring that introduces Thunderbolt 5 connectivity at a relatively low price.
With a price of CNY 1,599 (around $ 223), the dock will begin to be sent in China on July 26, although international launch details remain unknown.
Designed to admit desktop GPU externally, the S-3 link is aimed at users who seek to increase graphics on devices such as portable video edition or compact desks without internal expansion options.
Unusual design prioritizes the shape and flow of air on protection
Unlike traditional GPU enclosures with bulky cases, the S-3 link presents a flat-plated outdoor design, which helps reduce size and cost, depending on the flow of ambient air to cool the graphics card.
While the design looks elegant, you can feel risky to leave the most expensive part of its configuration completely exposed to the environment.
The PELADN S-3 link does not include a built-in power supply, but admits standard ATX or SFX units, with an energy delivery of up to 140 W through its Thunderbolt 5 port, which means that users must connect an external PSU to feed the configuration.
Connectivity is a key feature of the S-3 link. It includes two Thunderbolt 5 ports that offer up to 80 Gbps of bidirectional bandwidth.
However, GPU data transfer is limited to 64 Gbps due to PCIE 4.0 x4 interface.
While Thunderbolt 5 offers more bandwidth than the previous standards, the real -world performance advantage over Oculink can be marginal for most workloads.
Even so, Thunderbolt brings additional features that many Oculink -based docks lack.
The spring also includes an Ethernet port of 2.5 Gigabit fed by the RTL8156B controller of Realtek, a USB 3.2 Gen 2 type A port of 10 Gbps, an SD card reader and a PCIE 3.0 x1 m.2 slot for SSD storage.
These additions could make it especially attractive to content creators using a video editing PC or a mobile work station, where quick access to external units and networks is essential.
Through techpowerup